NEWS

State test refusal rates steady with 2015

Nina Schutzman

Poughkeepsie Journal

Most local school districts are reporting nearly the same number of student “opt outs” on the English Language Arts test this year as in 2015.

An unprecedented boycott of the state’s standardized exams entered its third year Tuesday, when students in grades 3-8 sat for the first of three days of ELA tests. State math tests start next week.

State education officials had hoped a regime change, and a series of changes to the standardized tests and how they’re crafted, would stem the heavy flow of testing opt-outs, which included about one out of every five eligible students in the state last year.

As of 6 p.m., there were 12 local districts reporting ELA test refusal numbers.

ELA opt outs rose 2 percentage points in each of Dutchess’ two largest districts, Wappingers — 41 percent — and Arlington — 34 percent.

Only 4.8 percent of Poughkeepsie city students refused the test Tuesday. The district had few refusals last year as well, with only one of its four elementary schools, G.W. Kreiger, reporting a significant, 15-percent ELA refusal rate.

While Krieger’s specific refusal numbers from this year were not available by press time, Superintendent Nicole Williams said they were not as high as in 2015.

The first day of testing "proceeded really smoothly" and the district was excited about the results, Williams added.

State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, who took office after last year’s exams, acknowledged the state has “much work to do.” But she was hopeful the changes the state has made — as well as her statewide tour touting them — would help increase the number of students taking the tests.

Overall in 2015, nearly 6,500 of the 18,400 Dutchess County public school students eligible to take the tests refused state math exams, while more than 5,600 refused ELA tests. By comparison, less than 1,100 county students refused ELA tests in 2014.

Elia is set to meet with the Journal Wednesday afternoon to discuss Common Core, teacher evaluations, school funding and the “opt-out” movement, among other issues.

Changes to the tests this year included eliminating some questions and reading passages on the tests to make them shorter and removing a strict time limit that had been enforced in previous years

A task force created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo recommended a temporary pause on counting the tests against teachers or students. Pearson, the London-based testing giant that has crafted the state’s tests the past five years, was ousted, though the company still crafted this year’s exams. At least 20 teachers from across the state were asked to review the exams before they were sent out.

Those changes, however, haven’t pacified opt-out leaders, who have continued their efforts to encourage more parents to refuse the exams.

Some local teachers unions, including the nearly 900-strong Wappingers Congress of Teachers, have said that whether or not a student takes the state assessments should be their parents’ choice. The union held a public rally Friday.

“We do not feel that enough has been done,” said Jim Marrinan, a fifth-grade teacher and the union’s vice president of political action. “There’s still concern about how this is affecting our kids. Our students are more important than a test score. Our APPR (Annual Professional Performance Review evaluation) is on moratorium but we don’t know what that means yet.”

Parents

Local parents listed a variety of reasons for having their children refuse, including: the tests, aligned to the Common Core since 2013, are not accurate reflections of learning or student achievement; they serve no purpose; they're unnecessarily stressful.

Pauline Naughton-Maloney, an Arlington mom, said this is the third year she's opted her children out of the tests.

They lose too much time prepping for tests — time that should be spent on curriculum, the exams contain "inappropriate material, (they're) not graded in a reasonable amount of time ... I could go on and on," Naughton-Maloney said.

Not all parents choose to refuse.

“Until new curriculum is implemented, I would like to know my child's progress in the current curriculum,” said Wappingers mom Katie Cullum. “The tests helped us identify a subject need for one of my children. We were able to identify it, work on it and my child is doing much better. We would never have identified the severity of it without the tests.”

Erin Su, a Beacon mom, said her son has never expressed any anxiety about the tests.

“I followed along with his thoughts and feelings and went with it,” Su said. “He won't be able to opt out of exams his entire life so why start now?”

The difference in opinion has caused heated discussions among parents on both sides of the fence on how best to handle the situation.

Technically, there is no "opt out" option, but if a student doesn't answer any test questions, they're considered to have no valid score and will be counted as "not tested" with a final score of "999." Refusals are marked with a standard achieved code of 96 to distinguish them from other "not tested" categories, such as absences.

This article will be updated as districts supply 2016 ELA test refusal information. All test refusal numbers from 2015 and 2014 are from Journal archives.

Arlington: This year, 1,235 of 3,636 students refused ELA tests, according to deputy Superintendent Phil Benante.

In 2015 there were 1,294 ELA refusals and 1,483 math refusals, about 38 percent of eligible students. In 2014, 169 students refused ELA and 294 refused math.

Beacon: This year, 395 of 1,314 students refused the ELA test, said interim Superintendent Ann Marie Quartironi.

In 2015, there were 415 ELA refusals and 333 math refusals. In 2014, only 23 Beacon students refused the ELA test, about 1.65 percent.

Dover: This year, there were 138 ELA refusals — 24 percent of eligible elementary school students and 20 percent of eligible middle schoolers, said Superintendent Mike Tierney.

In 2015, there were 141 ELA refusals and 178 math refusals; district enrollment in grades 3-8 was about 607. In 2014, six students refused both the ELA and math exams.

Hyde Park: This year 521 students refused the ELA tests. District enrollment in grades 3-8 is about 1,530.

In 2015, there were 590 ELA refusals and 685 math refusals. In 2014, there were 166 ELA refusals and 256 math refusals.

Marlboro: This year, 211 students refused ELA exams of a possible 897, said Robin Hecht, director of curriculum and instruction.

In 2015, there were 271 ELA refusals and 332 math refusals.

While refusal numbers from 2014 were not available, Hecht said at that time that both the elementary and middle school were at the 95 percent target.

Millbrook: This year, 124 of 445 students refused the ELA test, said Superintendent Philip D'Angelo. That was nearly identical to last year's results, he added.

In 2015, there were 127 ELA refusals and 155 math refusals, when 3-8 district enrollment was a bit higher at 462. In 2014, there were 49 ELA refusals and 58 math refusals.

New Paltz: This year, 63 percent of students -- 266 in the elementary school and 358 in the middle school -- refused the ELA tests, said Superintendent Maria Rice.

That refusal level was "about the same as last year," Rice said. She expects more refusals when math tests begin, since historically, a higher number of students opt out of the math exams.

Pawling: This year, about 177 of 563 students refused ELA exams, said Superintendent William Ward.

In 2015, there were 170 ELA refusals and 190 math refusals. District enrollment in grades 3-8 was about 568. In 2014, 13 students refused the ELA exam and 26 refused the math exam.

Pine Plains: This year, 44.6 percent of eligible students refused the ELA test — higher than last year, said Superintendent Martin Handler. He thinks it's a “continuation of what’s been happening" and isn't sure if parents understand that the test will not be used to evaluate teachers for the next few years.

Handler expects math refusals to be higher next week — traditionally, they are.

In 2015, there were 176 ELA refusals and 195 math refusals. District enrollment in grades 3-8 was about 420. That was a "tremendous" increase from 2014, when "maybe half a dozen kids in elementary, and a dozen at the middle school" refused both tests, Handler said then.

Poughkeepsie: The district with the fewest number of refusals in years past also had, by far, the lowest local number of opt-outs this year — 94 out of 1,953 students refused the test, about 4.8 percent.

In 2015, there were 104 ELA refusals and 197 math refusals. Only one of the district's four elementary schools, G.W. Kreiger, had a significant percentage of ELA refusals — about 15 percent, or 51 students. Refusal numbers from 2014 were not available.

Red Hook: This year, a total of 226 students refused ELA tests, the district reported. There were 76 refusals in the elementary school — down a little from 2015, according to the superintendent — and 150 refusals in the middle school, about the same as last year. District enrollment in grades 3-8 is 832,

In 2015, there were 241 ELA refusals and 314 math refusals. In 2014, there were 114 ELA refusals and 126 math refusals.

Rhinebeck: This year, 86 of 475 students refused ELA exams, the district reported.

In 2015, there were 68 ELA refusals and 94 math refusals. In 2014, there were 14 ELA refusals and 24 math refusals.

Spackenkill: This year, 142 students refused the ELA test, the district reported. District enrollment in grades 3-8 is about 651.

In 2015, there were 191 ELA refusals and 200 math refusals. Refusal numbers from 2014 were not available.

Wappingers: In the county's largest district, there were 2,056 ELA refusals this year, officials reported. District enrollment in grades 3-8 was 5,019 as of this March.

In 2015, there were 2,003 ELA refusals and 2,327 math refusals; district enrollment for those grades was 5,110 at the time. In 2014, only 6 percent of eligible students refused ELA tests. The number of math refusals from 2014 was not available.

Webutuck: There were 95 ELA refusals this year, the district reported.

In 2015, there were 102 ELA refusals and 97 math refusals. District enrollment in grades 3-8 was about 324. In 2014, 16 students refused ELA tests and 13 refused math.

Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518 Twitter: @pojonschutzman; Gannett's Albany Bureau contributed to this report